The recent incidents of anthrax-laced letters being transported through the United States Postal Service (USPS) facilities by unsuspecting mail handlers to unsuspecting recipients has alarmed the nation and the world. Currently, the tainted letters are discovered after the recipient accepts delivery or by alert postal employees noticing white powder that could be anthrax on mail parcels, sorting and distribution equipment, or themselves. There appear to be no current security devices or procedures that are available to intercept such letters at the earliest source of introduction into the USPS system.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to be able to isolate items dropped into mailboxes and other public drop boxes, so that adequate testing may be performed to detect the presence of any contaminants.
Terrorist activities in the United States have caused an urgent need for a means of protecting the public and the US Postal Service mail carriers from contaminates placed into the mail collection stream. The recent incidents of anthrax laced letters being transported through the United States Postal Service (USPS) facilities to unsuspecting recipients has alarmed the nation and the world. Currently, the tainted letters are discovered after the recipient accepts delivery or by alert postal employees noticing white powder that could be anthrax on mail parcels, sorting and distribution equipment, or themselves.
In particular, one style of collection box used by the US Postal Service is called the jumbo box, which includes a portable hamper option and which has a plurality of drop slots for receiving mail. The jumbo box is used in areas where customers deposit high volumes of mail pieces. The mail pieces are collected in the hamper and transported in bulk to the processing facility. There appears to be no current security devices or procedures that are available to isolate such letters within the hamper of a jumbo box, as well as the interior of the jumbo box.
Co-pending, commonly owned, patent application, Ser. No. 10/315,329, filed Dec. 10, 2002, to R. Felice, discloses a closeable mail receptacle for use inside of a drop box, which includes a rectangular tub having an open top, and a top cover adapted to engage the open top and close the tub either prior to or during removal of the tub from the drop box.
Co-pending, commonly owned, provisional application, Ser. No. 60/400,466, filed Aug. 2, 2002, to J. Swider et al., discloses a system and method which incorporates the use of sack supporting means and a contaminated air evacuation system for the collection of mail deposited in mail collection boxes providing protection against inadvertent release of any contaminants contained within such deposited mail.
Several U.S. patents disclose hamper lids or covers that are pivotally and/or removably attached to a hamper. U.S. Pat. No. 3,958,715, issued May 25, 1976, to J. Capelli; U.S. Pat. No. 3,982,690, issued Sep. 28, 1976 to B. Krizan et al; U.S. Pat. No. 4,057,309, issued Nov. 8, 1977, to E. Fragale; U.S. Pat. No. 4,180,113, issued Dec. 25, 1979, to J. Liebling; U.S. Pat. No. 4,218,103, issued 19, 1980; U.S. Pat. No. 4,246,945, issued Jan. 27, 1981, to N. Sterling; U.S. Pat. No. 4,281,814, issued Aug. 4, 1981, to R. Verwey; U.S. Pat. No. 4,354,543, issued Oct. 19, 1982; U.S. Pat. No. 4,585,283, issued Apr. 29, 1986.
Several U.S. patents disclose other uses for hampers in mail collection and process applications in conjunction with mail chutes. U.S. Pat. No. 4,363,438, issued Dec. 14, 1982, to C. Connor, discloses a mailbox having a slidable mailbag holding frame attached therein to position a mailbag below a mail chute to receive deposited mail articles and to slide the mailbag out of the mailbox for removal of the mailbag for mail processing. U.S. Pat. No. 4,690,283, issued Sep. 1, 1987, to R. Carrell, discloses a mail processing apparatus having mail hampers removably attached to portable frames positioned below mail chutes. U.S. Pat. No. 5,050,743, issued Sep. 24, 1991, to S. Lazzarotti, discloses mail sacks removably attachable to stationary frames disposed below mail chutes.